A spear fisherman was bitten by shark in the Florida Keys. He was airlifted to Miami
A man was bitten on the lower leg while spear fishing off the Upper Florida Keys Friday morning, according to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office.
The agency did not name the 22-year-old man in a statement it released Friday night. He was spear fishing near Davis Reef off the Village of Islamorada around 11:30 a.m. when the shark bit him.
The sheriff’s office said the bite was either to his foot or ankle, but the wound was serious enough to where he had to be airlifted to Jackson South Medical Center in Miami-Dade County for treatment.
The U.S. Coast Guard was the first agency to respond, and its crews took him to shore at its Islamorada base, where village Fire Rescue medics drove him to nearby Founders Park, where the county’s Trauma Star helicopter ambulance was waiting, according to the sheriff’s office.
On Saturday, Coast Guard District 7 spokesman Eric Rodriguez identified Ethan Wilder as the shark bite victim. He was last reported in stable condition, Rodriguez told the Miami Herald in an email.
Miami Herald staff writer Howard Cohen contributed to this report.
